Reena Gupta, CEO of the AI-driven learning and development platform Wisdocity, joined the March EN:Insights Forum to explore a critical tension facing HR leaders today. While organizations are investing heavily in AI, many are still struggling to translate those investments into meaningful workforce effectiveness. Her insights point to a deeper issue about how people understand, engage with, and ultimately trust AI in their work.
We have to know what AI is really good at, what we are really good at, and match that,” Gupta said. “That’s where the real ROI comes from.”
Here are a few insights from the conversation.
Where is the biggest disconnect between AI investments and employees becoming more effective?
Too often, AI success is framed in terms of speed or output (faster coding, quicker candidate screening) without addressing the human concerns that ultimately shape adoption, Gupta said.
At the center of this gap is fear. “We are measuring effectiveness on the wrong scale. [Employees are saying] ‘If I’m using this tool, am I risking my job?’ That’s the disconnect.”
That tension prevents AI from being fully embraced as a partner in productivity, but that’s where HR must step in, Gupta argued. When CHROs are not actively involved in AI strategy, organizations risk treating AI purely as a technical implementation rather than a people transformation.
Are organizations struggling more with AI adoption, or with helping people think, learn, and solve problems differently?
The real challenge, Gupta said, is reshaping how people approach their work rather than adopting AI tools. That’s because many HR teams still operate in a reactive mode, which leads to surface-level adoption without deeper transformation.
“I believe it is 100% more about people’s ability to think, rethink, and reanalyze what they are doing,” Gupta said. She advocates that leaders take a more structured approach: breaking down jobs into core components, identifying where AI can remove constraints, and reimagining how employees can use newly freed-up time.
If you were to design the workforce for the next 12-18 months, what would you do differently?
Gupta’s advises building confidence in people. She argues that organizations must intentionally ensure employees feel empowered to engage with AI rather than threatened by it. Without that foundation, even the most advanced tools will fall short of their potential.
“My goal would be to build a capable team [of people] who are collaborative, who know how to communicate with each other, and who can look into a job from a different lens now that we have the tools and technologies that were not available years and years before.”
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